It is a ill wind

I have to start this post noting, that I have never been at home when bad weather strikes.The two tornadoes that passed within blocks of our house, I was safely away.  The same this time when straight line winds clocked at 89 miles an hour hit Haysville on June 27th.  I like to think this is a blessing since I don't have to experience the fear that goes along with being in these storms.  But there is this tiny part of me that hates having missed it all.

As a result, I have other stories to tell.  This time, Nicole and her family had come over for a swim, just as Ray was leaving for a meeting and I was going to a closing not far away.  It was overcast, but not stormy.  I didn't think much about the storm that blew in a bit later, it was windy and the power went out.  I did the signing by flashlight.  That was enough adventure for me.  Nicole called me part way through and asked if I was safe.  Of course I was, she said it was like a tornado outside.  I said we were OK and hung up.  I finished my closing and came home,  it took me three different tries to get to the house.  Trees were down blocking streets everywhere. 

Once I got home, it looked like a tornado had gone through, except the houses were still there.  Branches and trees all over the place.  Our back yard was hit worse than the front, because that is where our big trees are.  The grand kids came running out more excited than I had ever seen them.  This was the scariest thing they had ever lived through.

Their story told by their parents was that everyone was swimming when they notice a cloud coming in from the north.  Suddenly there was dust in the air, so everyone hurried out of the pool to go inside.  Before they could go the fifteen feet from the pool to the house, the wind hit.  My grand son Wyatt was banging on the patio door,  yelling "Let me in, we are all going to die."  The children went downstairs to the storm shelter.  Nicole and Nick stayed upstairs looking out the patio door.  Then the branches started coming down, making the loudest cracks and crashes.  I heard some of this after I got home, so I can imagine how frightening it was.  Just a matter of minutes and it was gone.

Our pool is destroyed, the patio cover has to be replaced and a corner of the roof of the house has to be repaired.  We are waiting for the insurance company to get back to us on what we will have to work with.

Nick, Ray and Andrew worked on cleaning up here and over at the Blomberg's house from Friday through Sunday.  We were lucky, a lady over by Nick and Nicole's had a huge tree come uprooted and fall on her house.  It will be interesting to see how that is repaired.  However, when it comes down to straight line wind or a tornado, I will take the wind.